Merry Christmas!!

Yes it is that time of year again!  And this blog post will be up serving as our Christmas "letter".

So lets see.... we've had quite a year.  As usual....

It started right off with a bang.

Darren was laid off in February from HDR Inc.  He spent the next 6 months working his contacts and picking up some contract work.  That was a difficult time for us to be sure....

BUT...

 It opened doors and allowed God to work his magic and led to Darren being offered the Director of Design Technology job at Lionakis in Sacramento California.  By all rights this was Darren's dream job and he had been training his entire career for it.  This was IT.  After much thought & prayer we were convinced that Sacramento was by far the road we needed to go down.  So... off we went!

It was hard to leave our family and friends behind but when you are pretty sure God is telling you to do something or go somewhere... you go.  So we had to say a lot of good byes.

This is our Portland family. These people have been our angels.  They have gotten us through the past 8 years w/ 3 babies.... many broken bones, several houses, and jobs.  We miss them terribly.  We are thankful for cheap SW & Alaska flights.

We have had a great time so far in Sacramento. 

The boys visiting the Capital building.

These are the Parmans.  We met Sally WAY back in San Diego days (2000-2003).  She married John.  Then when we moved to Portland, they moved to Sacramento.  They are our ready  made family friends and we love and cherish them.  Even if they live WAY out in Folsom. (haha) 

Fall in Sacramento is stunning.  Winter has been pretty good too.  In fact the weather here so far pretty much delivers.  We are super happy with all the sun.  

Quick update on the boys

Jack has recovered perfectly from his fall out of the window.  Read more about that HERE if you care to.  

He is actually measuring taller than either of his brothers at similar ages.  He did have a tonsillectomy this year.  And since it, he's been much healthier.  Here he is "recovering".

Jack started preschool this year.  He has "school" Tuesday & Thursday mornings mainly so I can volunteer in the older boys classes.  He LOVES it.  We are learning he is quite the charmer.  He has somehow managed to get all the little boys to hunt for his favorite car first thing so he can have it.  They just want to make him happy. He SHINES when he is happy.  We all love Jack's little smile.

 Calvin also had a brief hospital stay with rotovirus.  But he's all better now!

He learned how to ride a bike with NO training wheels this summer!

Still the charmer.

He's doing great in Kindergarten - getting top "marks".  He is learning to read & sound out bigger words which is super exciting.  This is his big buddy (3rd grader)

And Oscar.  Oscar is doing great... at everything.  He loves school (2nd grade), loves his hobbies, LOVES to read, loves to play, love lots of stuff.  A typical kid I suppose... only we think he's exceptional.  

He just turned 8.  He had a TaeKwonDo party.  And what a party it was.  

He's quite a kid.  Funny.  Hard working.  Intelligent.  Kind. 

Speaking of TaeKwonDo....now all 5 of us are taking classes.  Yup, that's right.  ALL of us.

So I guess that about covers our year.  We are all healthy and happy.  Darren and I slimmed down a bit - I am finally back to my pre-pregnancy size (for the 1st time since getting pregnant w/ Oscar).  So that adds to the healthy and happy part.   

So if you find your self in the Sacramento area ever.. please come and say hi.  

You have a friendly place to go!  

Happy Holidays.  Merry Christmas and; Happy New Year!

Oscar's turning 8!

Oscar turns 8 Monday.  EIGHT.  Hard to believe.  We had his birthday party today.  Such fun. 

It was a TaeKwonDo party.  We ended up having 18 kids.  What a blast.  Robinson TaeKwonDo (where we all train) took care of all the details & kept the kids hoppin.  It was a blast.

Here are some shots.

The treats & take aways

The kids got a mini TaeKwonDo lesson.  

Seeing 18 kids all standing at attention and following orders is something... as Darren says, "it warms my heart".  Especially when they all scream "YES SIR"

And raced through an obstacle course.

Fun balloon games

Pizza & treat break

Gift time!

Kiai!  Happy Birthday Party Oscar!

First Family TaeKwonDo Belt Test

In Portland Oscar and Calvin have been training in a mixed martial arts for almost 2 1/2 years.  Calvin was 3 1/2 and Oscar was 5 1/2 when they started.  It has been awesome in every way and we've become convinced that all of our boys should be trained in some form of martial arts.  

Then we moved.  We had to leave our beloved martial arts studio behind.  

Enter Robinson's TaeKwonDo.  That is where we train now.  And by WE.... I mean ALL FIVE of us.  

We knew all the boys would start.  Jack is now 3 1/2..... the same age Calvin was when he started.  Then Darren and I got talked into training too.  And let me tell you..... it is HARD.  I've had friends talk about cross-fit sessions that are 20m of non stop hard work until you almost want to throw up.  We do that.... and THEN we do 30m of martial arts training.  It has been a great family activity.  Jack is in the Little Dragons program, starting as a white belt.  Calvin and Oscar started at a higher belt because of their previous training.  And Darren and I started at white belt.  Here is Oscar and Calvin in their sparing gear.  I'm not entirely sure Calvin could fight with all of this on... but never the less... here it is!

Tonight we all had our first belt test.  Everyone did great.  We are all so proud.  And three of us got to break boards!

Apple Hill

Today, our friends introduced us to a place near Sacramento called "Apple Hill".  It is a scenic stretch of road with dozens of apple orchards and wineries on it.  Can you imagine a better way to spend a beautiful sunday afternoon?  Tasting apples, pie and wine with great friends?  We can't either.

This pic above is Oscar, Brian, Calvin, Geneva and Jack.  They play together perfectly.

Hay maze.  That is Oscar  & Jack looking over.

Old apple orchard museum.  Darren teaching the kids about water wheels.

This one is for you Uncle Larry.

Sally, Brian, Jack, Darren, John, Calvin, Oscar & Geneva.  Eating apple pie at one of the orchards.  

Great times.  Thanks Parmans!

1st day of school

I know, I know... I haven't even had ONE post here since we moved to Sacramento.  

I'm sorry.  I've been busy.  You know MOVING.  

We've been here 3 weeks now and have been having a fabulous time so far.  We've been to car races, the capital buildings, we've had swimming lessons.  We've also had lots of contractors about.  We've had dead trees removed, trees trimmed, irrigation system fixed, etc.  We've played a TON in our huge backyard.  I'll get around to a post about all that later... maybe.

But....today was Oscar's 1st day of 2nd grade and Calvin's 1st day of Kindergarten in our new neighborhood school Mariemont Elementary.  So - quick side note - we LOVE our neighborhood.  As we walked to school this morning there were people lining the street in front of the school sitting on lawn chairs waving and cheering along all the neighborhood kids on their first day of school.  Yes really.  How great is that huh?  We feel like we've dropped into a dream neighborhood. It has been amazing.  

Anyway - back to the school.  

Mariemont... like the neighborhood it is in is amazing so far. This is the lunch "room".  They do have an indoor cafeteria for "hot days".  We laughed at that.  Not for rainy days... but hot days.

So as I said.  Calvin is in Kindergarten. It is 1/2 day here and he's in the morning session.  There are 31 in his class which is a lot but there are so many volunteer moms she has to cut it off at 4 a day.  So along w/ her co-teacher there are usually 6 adults in the room at a time.

They use smart-board that are linked to a wireless computer.  Cool huh?

Oscar's class has 29 and the same situation w/ volunteer parents.  The parents and PTA are heavily involved in this school.  Which we love.

So that is it.  2 in school this year.  Time has sure flown hasn't it!